Osama bin Laden is dead. So say the U.S. government, bin Laden's al-Qaida associates and three of his wives, who were with him May 2 when American commandos raided his compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

• August 13, 2011

World’s eighth largest solar power consumer, China said it will double its solar capacity and is likely to reach 2 gigawatts by the end of the year.

• August 13, 2011

That’s a very specific part of the program to be aiming at and there’s good reason for that too.

• August 13, 2011

India's GMR Infrastructure said on Friday its unit GMR Energy Ltd has entered into a pact to acquire a 30 percent stake in Indonesia's PT Golden Energy Mines Tbk or GEMS, for $450-$550 million in cash, joining the line of Indian firms buying coal assets across the globe to seek fuel security.

• August 12, 2011

I wrote an article in which I suggested that "[b]locking construction of a port at Cherry Point, or Longview, or any place else in the Pacific Northwest won't reduce by even one lump the amount of coal burned in Chinese or Indian power plants. There's plenty of coal in the world. It can reach Asian power plants in many ways."

• August 12, 2011

Turkey’s Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan told reporters during a meeting with South Korean Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Joong-Kyung in Seoul, "My ministry and the Turkish government are open to every proposal by South Korean companies over the issue of nuclear power plants."

• August 12, 2011

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during July 2011
Key developments:

• Turkey is shaken by the abrupt early retirement of the four highest-ranking military officials in the country just prior to the August meeting of the Supreme Military Council. The generals’ resignations, requesting retirement, are in protest at the continued detention of military officers as part of the “Sledgehammer” coup plot investigation.
  
• The domestic political scene calms as the Republican People’s Party (CHP) ends its parliamentary boycott, although the “independent” Peace and Democratic Party (BDP) delegates continue to refuse to be sworn in.
  
• Despite the fact that over 10,000 Syrians have crossed the border and sought refuge in Turkey, in July Ankara maintained a muted stance towards the Syrian crackdown as no viable alternative to the Assad regime has emerged.
  
• Iran, Syria and Iraq announce the Islamic Gas Pipeline project that will compete with Nabucco, while Turkey and Azerbaijan continue to argue over energy issues that could threaten the progress of the Nabucco gas pipeline
  

• August 12, 2011

This week Internet news sites in Uzbekistan have been blocked for unknown reasons, the independent news site fergananews.com reports.

• August 11, 2011